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room service

American  

noun

  1. the serving of food, drinks, etc., to a guest in their room, as at a hotel.

  2. the department or section, as at a hotel, responsible for rendering service of food, drinks, etc., to a guest in their room.


room service British  

noun

  1. service in a hotel providing meals, drinks, etc, in guests' rooms

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of room service

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

While working as a room service server at a hotel, he helped unionize his workplace and became active in the labor movement.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Find such a pillow to sleep on at home and you might reflexively reach for a phone to call room service in the morning.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 1, 2025

After my phenomenal experience with room service at the Atlanta location, we opted for a burger and pasta for a late night meal, but both were unfortunately a miss.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

And it will be restricting those who order room service to two meals per person — as opposed to the previous no-limit policy.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 16, 2025

My father walks over and picks up a room service book next to a Travel & Leisure magazine.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan